# The book of Lamentations

> Lamentations is five poems of grief over Jerusalem after Babylon destroyed it in 586 BC. In the middle of the darkness comes one of the Bible’s best-known lines of hope: God’s mercies are new every morning.

Source: https://www.lumin.faith/read/lamentations/about
Section: Major prophets · 5 chapters

## Who wrote Lamentations?

The poems are unsigned. Tradition credits Jeremiah. Many scholars think they come from one or more poets who saw the fall.

## When was it written?

Written soon after 586 BC.

## Main themes

- **Grief brought to God.** Loss is named in full, not hurried past.
- **Sin and judgment.** The poems admit why the city fell.
- **Hope in God’s faithfulness.** Chapter 3 turns on God’s steadfast love.

## Outline

- Chapter 1: [The city sits alone](https://www.lumin.faith/read/lamentations/1)
- Chapter 2: [God’s anger](https://www.lumin.faith/read/lamentations/2)
- Chapter 3: [Hope in the dark](https://www.lumin.faith/read/lamentations/3)
- Chapter 4: [Then and now](https://www.lumin.faith/read/lamentations/4)
- Chapter 5: [A prayer for restoration](https://www.lumin.faith/read/lamentations/5)

## Key verses

Quoted from the Lumin Translation.

> Yahweh’s steadfast love is why we have not perished; his compassions have not run dry. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
> — [Lamentations 3:22-23](https://www.lumin.faith/read/lamentations/3#22)

> Yahweh is good to those who look to him in hope, to the person who seeks him out.
> — [Lamentations 3:25](https://www.lumin.faith/read/lamentations/3#25)

> Bring us back to yourself, Yahweh, so that we may return; renew our days as in the past,
> — [Lamentations 5:21](https://www.lumin.faith/read/lamentations/5#21)

## Where to start

Chapter 3 is the center. Chapters 1–4 are acrostics, built on the Hebrew alphabet. [Read Lamentations 3](https://www.lumin.faith/read/lamentations/3.md)

Read the whole book: https://www.lumin.faith/read/lamentations/1.md
Ask about it: https://www.lumin.faith/ask.md